The "Ask a professional college student" thread

[kmiller8]

I really don't want to do this, but **** it, It'll be informative and useful for you guys. I was kinda weighing whether or not I wanted to do it, and figure nothing too terrible could happen.

I've been going to college for 3 and a half years, and have been in school for the past 16 years of my life, but thankfully I only have a few months left, so I can spend more time on a job. Anyone who goes to my college now, most likely doesn't know who I am. I've made many friends who go to other schools, a lot of local ones, and even some who didn't even go to college. I will not name these people.

I will try my best to answer your questions. My answers are based off my experience, which is not "textbook".

Ask away.

[demik]

How drunk are you daily on a scale of 1-10

[SpAmRaY]

Do you only eat ramen noodles and chicken strips?

[kmiller8]

How drunk are you daily on a scale of 1-10

around a 1 as a median value, maybe 4 or 5 as a mean.

Do you only eat ramen noodles and chicken strips?

I occasionally indulge in ramen, by my parents usually feed me some home cookin.

[demik]

Where the white women at

[kmiller8]

Where the white women at

business and nursing for the single ones

education for the married ones

[demik]

How much of a lie are movies when it comes to the college experience?

[SpAmRaY]

Are most of your professors balding with glasses?

[kmiller8]

How much of a lie are movies when it comes to the college experience?

Dunno, haven't seen many movies about the struggle of a engineering college student.

[bueller]

Are most of your professors balding with glasses?

And patches, you forgot to ask him about the elbow patches.

[kmiller8]

Are most of your professors balding with glasses?

Glasses yes, balding no.

Kids reading this thread. TALK TO YOUR PROFESSORS. They're lonely and want to tell people more about the stuff they teach. And they decide your grade, they remember the few students who stop by their office.

Are most of your professors balding with glasses?

And patches, you forgot to ask him about the elbow patches.

wat is this, i don't even

[demik]

How much of a lie are movies when it comes to the college experience?

Dunno, haven't seen many movies about the struggle of a engineering college student.

So animal house is a lie?

[kmiller8]

So animal house is a lie?

dunno, I feel like the greek culture is pretty weak at my school, maybe **** like that happens at other places.

[dfj]

Seriously - if you don't 'get' the subject, getting the prof to talk a bit about why it is so interesting to them can really help sometimes They are typically devoting most of their research effort to something somewhat related to the course they are teaching. Some of them are into *whatever* for the same mysterious internal reasons that we got into keyboards... but sometimes there are connections and aspects of the practice of the subject that really are a lot more fun than is obvious from the lectures.
  Some folks are also crappy lecturers, but are way easy to understand in person. You'd think the prof's office time would be full, it's not - the door is likely open and waiting for you to drop by, or snag them after lecture if you have that time. Talk about the subject, the course, or just shoot the ****.
  I once dropped by one office on a whim, and had the prof offer me some 'extra' scholarships left over at the start of that year... like holy bloody random lucky.

dfj

[MKULTRA]

How much of a lie are movies when it comes to the college experience?

Dunno, haven't seen many movies about the struggle of a engineering college student.

So animal house is a lie?

It isn't quite that crazy.  Most of the frats at my school are pretty serious about academics.  You're always gonna have the outliers but overall Greek's have a higher GPA etc...  There's definitely parties and stuff.  I'm going Greek next semester so I'll let you know demik 

[tgujay]

How crippling is your student debt?  Are you concerned about the job market you are entering?

[kmiller8]

How crippling is your student debt?  Are you concerned about the job market you are entering?

So far I've had to pay $800 to go to college, and I've gotten $600 back from my first 6 semesters, so I've been in the black for the most part. Scholarships are quite nice.

I'm in Electrical Engineering, I don't have the slightest concern with the job market.

[demik]

Do you think everybody should experience college? If there is one regret I have in life is screwing around in HS and ruining all chances of going to college. But at the same time I don't think I would have lasted a year because of my social anxiety and it would have been a waste of time and money.

[tgujay]

How crippling is your student debt?  Are you concerned about the job market you are entering?

So far I've had to pay $800 to go to college, and I've gotten $600 back from my first 6 semesters, so I've been in the black for the most part. Scholarships are quite nice.

I'm in Electrical Engineering, I don't have the slightest concern with the job market.

Oh... I've only had to pay about... $60,000.

[Tym]

Are most of your professors balding with glasses?

And patches, you forgot to ask him about the elbow patches.

wat is this, i don't even

You can put them on the suit to protect the elbows from wear or after the wear has taken place to cover it 

[kmiller8]

Do you think everybody should experience college? If there is one regret I have in life is screwing around in HS and ruining all chances of going to college. But at the same time I don't think I would have lasted a year because of my social anxiety and it would have been a waste of time and money.

That is a good question, which I don't feel I can properly answer, as I've only directly seen the results of college. Like I said earlier, I still hang out with some people from high school who didn't go to college, or went to college for a semester and dropped out. One thing in Louisiana that simplifies this question is that the state will straight up pay tuition for you to go to school, meaning you only have to pay a few hundred in fees, greatly increasing the chance of people wanting, and being able to afford college.

But like I mentioned, I've been biased towards college for years and years. Even in High School I had a college-like experience where I lived in a dorm and went to classes on the MWF or TR schedule. As for everyone else, idk meng... maybe everyone should at least understand what college is, other than those ****ty college movies put out every few years.

Oh... I've only had to pay about... $60,000.

Louisiana man, the TOPS program is the greatest thing ever, especially for the state with the worst education :x

[tgujay]

Do you think everybody should experience college? If there is one regret I have in life is screwing around in HS and ruining all chances of going to college. But at the same time I don't think I would have lasted a year because of my social anxiety and it would have been a waste of time and money.

That is a good question, which I don't feel I can properly answer, as I've only directly seen the results of college. Like I said earlier, I still hang out with some people from high school who didn't go to college, or went to college for a semester and dropped out. One thing in Louisiana that simplifies this question is that the state will straight up pay tuition for you to go to school, meaning you only have to pay a few hundred in fees, greatly increasing the chance of people wanting, and being able to afford college.

But like I mentioned, I've been biased towards college for years and years. Even in High School I had a college-like experience where I lived in a dorm and went to classes on the MWF or TR schedule. As for everyone else, idk meng... maybe everyone should at least understand what college is, other than those ****ty college movies put out every few years.

Oh... I've only had to pay about... $60,000.

Louisiana man, the TOPS program is the greatest thing ever, especially for the state with the worst education :x

Damn, I would have qualified for that and I did awful in high school.

[Puddsy]

I wrote out a long winded response cause I thought you were being a ****, then I realized that this is kinda funny so I'm just gonna leave it and move on. I might PM you if I'm still mad later, but I don't really mind for now.

OT: What's the workload like?

[kmiller8]

I wrote out a long winded response cause I thought you were being a ****, then I realized that this is kinda funny so I'm just gonna leave it and move on. I might PM you if I'm still mad later, but I don't really mind for now.

OT: What's the workload like?

Depends on what degree you get into, EE can be pretty rough if you want to maintain a 4.0. Some other degreeesss.... not so much.

[tgujay]

I wrote out a long winded response cause I thought you were being a ****, then I realized that this is kinda funny so I'm just gonna leave it and move on. I might PM you if I'm still mad later, but I don't really mind for now.

OT: What's the workload like?

U mad because your thread is as silly as his?  Noone REALLY cares about a "pro gamer".

[demik]

Hey don't be a ****. That great finds chick is in love with e-"sports" so to say nobody cares is wrong.

[swill]

Do you think everybody should experience college? If there is one regret I have in life is screwing around in HS and ruining all chances of going to college. But at the same time I don't think I would have lasted a year because of my social anxiety and it would have been a waste of time and money.

I think the answer to this question depends on how well you are going to do coming straight out of highschool.  I went to university and if I did it all again, I am not sure that I would.  My situation may be very specific, but maybe not...

I went to school for Computer Science and I found that the technology that was taught was about 10 years too old.  I was a successful freelance software consultant coming out of highschool and I found that when I came out of university I was kind of crippled.  I could go get a job for a big company and work in a cubicle (which is not my idea of fun) or figure out a way to support myself and learn the last 5 years of technology that I had not kept up on because I was focused on school.  I tried to just support myself with consulting while I re educated myself on the latest technology trends, but after living on $50/month for food, I finally caved and went and got a cubicle job.  I did that for about a year before I found a company that was willing to hire me and let me just re educate myself for the first 6 months without any major deliverables.  I had to take a 50% pay cut to do it, but it was the right choice for me at the time.

Now I am a successful software developer working at the very leading edge of technology and I am loving it.  If I had not gone to university would I be as well off as I am now?  I expect that I probably would be.  Would it have taken as long for me to get my feet under me?  In my case, probably not.  Did my university degree help me at all when getting a job?  Yes, but only for the types of jobs I did not want.

Unfortunately too many companies won't even look at people without a degree, so this is a really hard question to answer and everyone is going to have to weigh their decision given their situation.

[swill]

Haha, flame wars are fun... 

Stay tuned for my: The "Ask a professional software developer" thread  (joke)

[tgujay]

Haha, flame wars are fun... 

Stay tuned for my: The "Ask a professional software developer" thread  (joke)

If anyone on here takes me seriously I feel very bad for them, I am an internet *******.

[regack]

do you lean more towards 'cheap' or 'tastes ok' when it comes to ordering food at 2am? 

note: they aren't ALWAYS mutually exclusive... and it might also include other variables such as

How drunk are you daily on a scale of 1-10

[BGD]

Being a college student, you obviously indulge in the wild side of life. Have you ever contracted a STD at one of those famous college parties?
If yes, was it worth it?

[swill]

Being a college student, you obviously indulge in the wild side of life. Have you ever contracted a STD at one of those famous college parties?
If yes, was it worth it?

Is contracting an STD ever 'worth it'?  Really???

[tgujay]

Being a college student, you obviously indulge in the wild side of life. Have you ever contracted a STD at one of those famous college parties?
If yes, was it worth it?

No.  Totally worth it.

[BGD]

Being a college student, you obviously indulge in the wild side of life. Have you ever contracted a STD at one of those famous college parties?
If yes, was it worth it?

Is contracting an STD ever 'worth it'?  Really???

Curiosity got the best of me, sorry. Guess I was being too serious 

[kmiller8]

do you lean more towards 'cheap' or 'tastes ok' when it comes to ordering food at 2am? 

note: they aren't ALWAYS mutually exclusive... and it might also include other variables such as

If I'm hungry at 2AM and willing to order food, I'm damn hungry, and taste will be the deciding factor.

Being a college student, you obviously indulge in the wild side of life. Have you ever contracted a STD at one of those famous college parties?
If yes, was it worth it?

pls calm down with the sterotypes, I don't indulge the wild side, I live that ****.

[vivalarevolución]

Do you ever play frisbee on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

[swill]

Do you ever play frisbee on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

When I was in Uni, I was MVP on our Ultimate Frisbee team.  Two years later I went to worlds in Australia.  You joke but that **** is a real sport now. 

[tgujay]

Do you ever play frisbee on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

When I was in Uni, I was MVP on our Ultimate Frisbee team.  Two years later I went to worlds in Australia.  You joke but that **** is a real sport now. 

I have a friend who does frisbee for GUTS?

[demik]

Do you ever play frisbee on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

When I was in Uni, I was MVP on our Ultimate Frisbee team.  Two years later I went to worlds in Australia.  You joke but that **** is a real sport now. 

I have a friend who does frisbee for GUTS?

i'm ron burgundy?

[vivalarevolución]

Do you ever play frisbee on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

When I was in Uni, I was MVP on our Ultimate Frisbee team.  Two years later I went to worlds in Australia.  You joke but that **** is a real sport now. 

Ok, I will modify.  Do you ever play frisbee toss a football on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

[demik]

Is hacky sack not cool anymore?!?!

[SpAmRaY]

Is hacky sack not cool anymore?!?!

I still have mine.

[Neal]

Hi, I dropped out of college 3 times. Should I try again? And if so should I try the same study (Major?)

[riotonthebay]

Hi, I dropped out of college 3 times. Should I try again? And if so should I try the same study (Major?)

Professional dropout here.

You'll be fine.

[quickcrx702]

I'm in Electrical Engineering, I don't have the slightest concern with the job market.

Do all of your professors speak unintelligible English?  I don't mean they just speak with an accent that you can kind of make out, that would be okay.  I mean their accent is so thick that they are nearly impossible to understand.  When I was in college all of the easy classes were taught by people that spoke English as a native language, but difficult topics like advanced math or advanced programming classes were all taught by people from India, China, Korea, etc. who could barely speak English.  The best I got was a professor with a very thick English accent, at least I kind of understood his lectures.  What I ended up doing is just emailing them questions I had, since they all had great written English.

[vivalarevolución]

Hi, I dropped out of college 3 times. Should I try again? And if so should I try the same study (Major?)

Do you have skills that are useful to other people?  Because that's all that really matters.  Some businesses these days do not even ask for a college degree.  They just care what you can do.

[kmiller8]

Do all of your professors speak unintelligible English?  I don't mean they just speak with an accent that you can kind of make out, that would be okay.  I mean their accent is so thick that they are nearly impossible to understand.  When I was in college all of the easy classes were taught by people that spoke English as a native language, but difficult topics like advanced math or advanced programming classes were all taught by people from India, China, Korea, etc. who could barely speak English.  The best I got was a professor with a very thick English accent, at least I kind of understood his lectures.  What I ended up doing is just emailing them questions I had, since they all had great written English.

Nah, I'd say about 1/3 of them are white, 1/3 are foreign with a very slight accent and the final 1/3 take about 2 weeks of class to begin to fully understand their accent.

[iri]

i hate indian accent

[tgujay]

Do you ever play frisbee on the quad in pastel shorts and a tank top while wearing Ray-Bans and a backwards, upside-down visor with Phish playing on your portable Ipod dock?

When I was in Uni, I was MVP on our Ultimate Frisbee team.  Two years later I went to worlds in Australia.  You joke but that **** is a real sport now. 

I have a friend who does frisbee for GUTS?

i'm ron burgundy?

Should have put ?GUTS?  I wasn't sure if that is what it was called.

[Novus]

Who would you rather date a hippie, a liberal arts major or a sorority chick?